The association between depression and anxiety with COVID-19 outcomes.

Previous studies have shown that mental disorders affect COVID-19 mortality. This study investigated the effect of depression and/or anxiety on COVID-19 outcomes. Depression/anxiety was defined by actively taking medication and/or diagnosis. The outcomes were ICU admission; ventilation; mortality; and time to mortality. Of 698 hospitalized patients, there were 204 (29%) defined to have either depression or anxiety. There were 109 deaths, and of those, 52 (48%) were diagnosed with depression/anxiety. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine associations. ICU admission and ventilation were not significantly associated with depression/anxiety. Depression/anxiety was associated with mortality (OR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.15-2.93, p: 0.01) and time to mortality (HR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.07-2.39, p: 0.02), adjusting for age, sex, and history of COPD. The association seemed driven by patients who were never admitted to the ICU. This study showed that depression/anxiety has a significant effect on COVID-19 mortality